I think my fish is sick! :(

[jctheobald@csbsju.edu]

he is brand new and the first few days he was active. now he just floats near the top of the water all day. what can i do to fix him?? :(

[zerlinafish]

Hey there...

Sorry to hear that your fishy friend is not well. To help the ppl on the board help you better, would you post as much info as you can?

1. Tank Size
2. What dechlorinator/water conditioner do you use? Tap water has chlorine or chloramine in it, and that can be not so good for our gilled friends.
3. Feeding Schedule (How often/what kind of food do you feed him? Is he eating?)
4. Decorations? (Bettas need places to hide...silk plants are great)
5. Perameters: Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph
6. Temperature of water?

This board is great, and there are a whole lot of knowledgble fishkeepers here that have decades of experience and someone might just have the thing to help your little guy heal up. If you think that he is in immediate danger, you can call a local fish store or big box pet store for immediate help too.

I Hope this helps

z-fish

[jctheobald@csbsju.edu]

1. he is in a 1/2 gallon bowl.
2. i have kent marine betta bowl essential
3. i have had the fish for about 4 days and i have fed him twice
4. he has two plants that i washed and gems on the bottom.
5. i dont know how to figure those out...
6. i dont have a themometer either. :(

[zerlinafish]

OK, here's how I can help you out (my suggestions and my experience and feedback from the board on my own problems):

1. All things being equal, he should be in a bigger bowl/tank if you can get him one. 2 -2.5 gallons is what some ppl say the minimum is. A low flow filter is usually a pretty good idea (can be very inexpensive...I got mine for $10 @ Petco). Again, will help to get him a bigger home.
2. Conditioner looks fine.
3. Feeding Schedule looks ok. Did he eat ok?
4. If keeping him in a small bowl like that, I might take one of the plants out. It will give him more swimming room. Gems are fine (thinking of switching to them myself)...as long as they don't take up a whole lot of room.
5. Water chemistry affects fish greatly. A test kit when you can get one might help out. This might just be the culprit...I would change his water, and see if that perks him up. If it does, don't do another change for a couple of days.
6. Bettas need a steady temp. In a bowl that small, a heater would likely boil him...so see what you can do with a desk light. You can get a thermometer at Petco or Petsmart for a couple of bucks.

Hope this helps!!

Z-fish

[jctheobald@csbsju.edu]

i can try a bigger bowl... the only problem is i am in a dorm room so space is semi limited.

he didnt swim to the top and eat the food quickly but he ate eventually.

what is a good water tester to get? i tried changing his water today but it didnt really help much.

what temprature should i keep it at?

[dramaqueen]

You didn't wash the gems and plants with something other than hot water, did you? Your fish should be fed every day, once or twice a day. Twice, a day 2-3 pellets each time or once a day, 4-6 each time.

[Meatpuppet]

here, read this
http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=17558

bettas have to should be fed a portion (tiny pinch of flakes or 2 pellets) twice daily. and they have to be kept at 77-79 degrees F. if its too cold they will get very inactive and prone to illnesses.
so you should get a thermometer and a heater. but a 1/2 gallon is too small for a heater so you'll probly have to get at least a 2 gallon tank with a 10 watt micro heater.

its always handy to get a master liquid test kit to test ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and usally ph. if you get a bigger tank also these parameters will be more stable which is good for you and the fish.

[iamntbatman]

Just to reiterate: the liquid test kits are definitely the way to go. They're expensive in stores (usually around $30 for the API Freshwater Master Test Kit) but they're *much* less expensive at online aquarium supply stores like Drs. Foster and Smith and Aquariumguys. I'm talking half the price. Also, though the kits are more expensive at the outset than the test strips, they're far more accurate and you end up saving money because the test strips only come 25 or so to a box but the liquid kit can do around 100 tests for each one of the water parameters.

Like zerlinafish said, water chemistry is crucial to the health of your fish. Even if the water looks clean, it could be full of toxic chemicals that could kill the fish. Knowing about the aquarium cycle (which is really just a partial nitrogen cycle) will help you keep your fish alive, but you can only monitor the cycle with the help of a good test kit.

[Flashygrrl]

Good heater for smaller betta tanks (I gallon or so):

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS...d10wminiheater